I remember Odyssey having some weird shit, from bars that angled forward, to some type of steering dampener, to a stem with a ramped wheel that amplified the pull for the front brakes. I had one of those stems, and I remember it having a horrible feel. The first 2 I never tried, but they didn't make any sense to me.

Nothing will equal the Alenax "mountain bike" in turkey products. Instead of the rider's weight balancing on the bottom bracket, the weight is one crank length forward of that. The effect is that the front end cannot be lifted off the ground, a maneuver that many mountain bikers find handy.

Of course, the pedal hanging low in front invites a pole-vault over a log if you hang it up.

And you think it was a good idea? Perhaps not even close to worst idea...let's call it a less than ideal execution. I always wondered about the bars and dampener mind you.

Depending on where you set the cam, the VAPOR stem worked pretty well. Like a rollercam, you could have the pads set a good distance from the rim for mud clearance and then come in quickly and have high-leverage when the pads made contact. I think one of the keys to setting them up was to use double braided cable which is very flexible and able to conform nicely to the tight diameter of the cam roller. In this way, the spring tension of the brake arms was sufficient to take the slack out of the cable at rest, giving a much more positive feel as you first grabbed the brake.

I have no experience with the other products, although the handlebar always struck me as odd and not ergonomic.

WTF! I can't even wrap my head around how the chain drives the rear wheel. that is friggin weird

It kind of pulled forward and then freewheeled back as the other chain pulled forward.

If you've ever towed a kiddie trailer you'd know the surging feeling until you got up to speed. Well, Alenax bikes kind of felt like that all the time. The Alenax was a useful system for proving that the rotational crank system really was the simplest and most elegant answer for driving the rear wheel. Other than that, it is nothing more than a curio. I encourage everyone who has the opportunity to ride an Alenax to do so.

I want an Alenax, with a biopace rear drive, roller cam brakes, Girvan Flexstem and one of those funky elastomer suspension hubs.

Embarrassingly designed by an epically clueless enginerd, right here in Rochester.

I still feel pangs of shame, but have a roadie version hanging in the collection just the same....

There was one for sale here locally (mtb version) I wanted it bad, but the guy was firm on price, which was nosebleed. Did the offer, wait, re-offer, wait thing, the listing stayed for like two months, price un-lowered, then it slipped back into the cobwebs of his basement I' sure.

Nothing will equal the Alenax "mountain bike" in turkey products. Instead of the rider's weight balancing on the bottom bracket, the weight is one crank length forward of that. The effect is that the front end cannot be lifted off the ground, a maneuver that many mountain bikers find handy.

Of course, the pedal hanging low in front invites a pole-vault over a log if you hang it up.

That may be the most cumbersome shifting device I've ever seen. I think that's rule #2 in problem solving "Make sure what your solving is a problem." Otherwise the risk of "creating" the problem is pretty high.

The most expensive bike in the world is still cheaper than the cheapest open heart surgery.

I thought the Oddessy steering dampener was a good idea in a time where DH speeds were outdoing the performance of the suspension technology. But I never set one up, or rode a bike with one so I don't know if it was effective.

I'd have to go mess with mine to remember what the notches did, but it's not related to gear ratios.

Ron's Alenax Blog I think those arms are used to control the "gear ratio" otherwise, why wouldn't the chain be attached to a fixed point? Couldn't find any reference to a derailleur online, and this pic doesn't show one. How would you shift with the chain going back and forth?

The most expensive bike in the world is still cheaper than the cheapest open heart surgery.

Ron's Alenax Blog I think those arms are used to control the "gear ratio" otherwise, why wouldn't the chain be attached to a fixed point? Couldn't find any reference to a derailleur online, and this pic doesn't show one. How would you shift with the chain going back and forth?

The Alenax did not have derailleurs or a continuous chain. Each pedal operated a ratcheting chain on either side of the rear hub. A cable kept the two pedals out of phase, one went up when the other went down.

Gearing was accomplished as seen, by moving the connector point on the upper arm of the crank. Having ridden one of these turkeys, I can tell you that when you shifted and the chain slid to the next notch -- twice -- it felt like you just broke something.

just went and looked at mine, been a while. Yep, no derrs, but yes a shifter!

It just a weird idea and design. The more I look at it the more I wonder if the inventor wasn't thinking "I'm going to invent a new way to shift and pedal. I don't care if it sells, if it works or even if it looks good as long as I get a patent on it. That's my life's goal." Either that or it was designed by a special panel of members of the Senate and the House who were all "experts" on cycling.

The most expensive bike in the world is still cheaper than the cheapest open heart surgery.

Carbon rear ends/ stays on high end road bikes. Everybody was doing it.. and nobody is doing it anymore. It seems the carbon rear made any great bike ride worse. Pinarello Paris and Colnago Dream, for example.

The guy who designed the Alenax failed when he wanted to design a new way to pedal. Not necessarily from a design perspective but that design is not new. My friend had such a mechanism on a bike from, about '90. That's the 1890's.

He had something very similar with the reciprocating pedals but it used two leather belts that rolled up kind of ratched-ee-like and then you would pull the belt out via the reciprocating pedals and drive it forward. So left belt would be pulled out and right belt was rolling up and vice-versa. I was impressed at the attempt but didn't ride it myself, being a valuable antique at all but the idea is not anything new. I'm assuming that since it's a rare design, it didn't catch on then either. Wish I had a picture but no such luck.

Here is an even older design, 1839, with a similar pedal action but different drive mechanism.

All it took for me to identify the problems with the Alenax was five minutes on one. If you know what a mountain bike is supposed to do, you will know right away that this bike can't do it.

You would think that with all the money they spent, they could have tried riding one.

LOL. Yeah, you'd reckon they must have been well into it money wise before they realised what a naff idea it was and thought "we can't ditch these in the sea, let's just sell them and try to recoup some money".

The Alenax wasn't just a MTB, they had road and touring models. Yep, a touring model. Imagine doing a week long tour on one of those contraptions with loaded panniers. Eugh...

The one I rode was a road model. It was bloody evil but I thought maybe it wasn't for me. Then I remembered that they never took off. It wasn't just me I guess.

There are some you tube clips of the Alenax system. It seems the western world wasn't ready for it, so they tried to market it in China.

I found this while hunting - the linear drive system. Kind of Alenax-y but the pedals are on a vertical rail. Funny moment is when the pro-rider says he can really see this system taking off.

I don't recall the specifics, but they wanted the cycling motion to be like climbing stairs, as opposed to going in circles. Had a very engineery thought process, good in theory, but um, well...

in practice!

Probably just missed the market. Stair climbing as a sport is only about two years old in my neck of the woods. While I doubt many folks are looking for a stair-cross-trainer, I've heard of worse ideas.

The most expensive bike in the world is still cheaper than the cheapest open heart surgery.

The guy who designed the Alenax failed when he wanted to design a new way to pedal. Not necessarily from a design perspective but that design is not new. My friend had such a mechanism on a bike from, about '90. That's the 1890's.

He had something very similar with the reciprocating pedals but it used two leather belts that rolled up kind of ratched-ee-like and then you would pull the belt out via the reciprocating pedals and drive it forward. So left belt would be pulled out and right belt was rolling up and vice-versa. I was impressed at the attempt but didn't ride it myself, being a valuable antique at all but the idea not anything new. I'm assuming that since it's a rare design, it didn't catch on then either. Wish I had a picture but no such luck.

Here is an even older design, 1839, with a similar pedal action but different drive mechanism.

Actually, this looks more ridable.

The most expensive bike in the world is still cheaper than the cheapest open heart surgery.

I remember when MBA combine this with fork and suspension stem to get something like 4" of travel and we were all like "damnnn!".

Good times.

I'd like to add any of the backyard mill made components made from brittle aluminum. Also softride suspension, also the bolt on rear and front suspension that used bungie cords for springs. Also the Bushido.

I have no basis of fact, other than my memory of it, but there was an ad in an early publication dedicated to mtb's that was marketing some ropes that you attached to your handlebars that allowed you to control your steering while off your bike and pushing it uphill. As hard to describe properly as it is to imagine that it had any use whatsoever.

Was the Browning idea a bad one or just one that didn't make it? Never tried one but read in the past that it actually worked ok and the article there, see page 8, says that it works.

Seems like it was a real product addressing a real problem and in the mid-80's, front shifting under load really didn't work well. Certainly the Browning isn't on par with the reciprocating pedals. My problem is look at the crank they choose to mount it on (Blek).

I have no basis of fact, other than my memory of it, but there was an ad in an early publication dedicated to mtb's that was marketing some ropes that you attached to your handlebars that allowed you to control your steering while off your bike and pushing it uphill. As hard to describe properly as it is to imagine that it had any use whatsoever.

I remember these. I think it had to do with the fact that most bike trails back then were in fact hiking trails and not designed for bikes, I remember the ad with the T-shirted dude on a bike pushing up an steep hill from the back. Actually a good idea for the time I bet.

I also recall either Univega or Supergo putting out a torsion spring high pivot suspension concept that also needed a secondary spring and damper. Talk about bad ideas. Torsion is horrible on cars much less on a bike.

The Browning was used in BMX, though not extensively or we would have seen a lot more of them. The better solution (not there was a problem) was the Suntour Holeshot, a 2 speed rear derailleur that allowed the rider to start in a lower gear to get the jump out of the gate and then drop the chain down to a higher ratio, using a 2 speed freewheel once up to speed.

If there was really a problem to solve then either system would have taken off but BMX is still raced with one gear.

The Browning was used in BMX, though not extensively or we would have seen a lot more of them. The better solution (not there was a problem) was the Suntour Holeshot, a 2 speed rear derailleur that allowed the rider to start in a lower gear to get the jump out of the gate and then drop the chain down to a higher ratio, using a 2 speed freewheel once up to speed.

If there was really a problem to solve then either system would have taken off but BMX is still raced with one gear.

Grumps

Seems like the biggest innovation in BMX has been riding style more than gears or gizmos. Riders are way smoother than when I raced in the 70's.

The most expensive bike in the world is still cheaper than the cheapest open heart surgery.